The prior art has included a number of ultrasonic catheters inserted into the mammalian body and usable to deliver ultrasonic energy for purposes of ablating obstructive material from anatomical cavities or passageways, or for other therapeutic purposes.
Examples of ultrasonic treatment catheters and related apparatus include those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,433,226 (Boyd), 3,823,717 (Pohlman, et al.), 4,808,153 (Parisi), 4,936,281 (Stasz), 3,565,062 (Kuris), 4,924,863 (Sterzer), 4,870,953 (Don Michael, et al.), 4,920,954 (Alliger, et al.), 5,267,954 (Nita), and 5,100,423 (Fearnot) as well as other patent publications W087-05739 (Cooper), W089-06515 (Bernstein, et al.), W090-0130 (Sonic Needle Corp.), EP316789 (Don Michael, et al.), DE3,821,836 (Schubert) and DE2,438,648 (Pohlman).
Additionally, ultrasound transmitting catheters may be utilized to deliver ultrasonic energy to mammalian blood vessels for the purpose of preventing or reversing vasospasm, as described in co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/911,651, entitle ANGIOPLASTY AND ABLATIVE DEVICES HAVING ONBOARD ULTRASOUND COMPONENTS AND DEVICES AND METHODS FOR UTILIZING ULTRASOUND TO TREAT OR PREVENT VASOSPASM.
One particular type of ultrasound transmitting catheter which may be utilized to deliver therapeutic ultrasound to an intracorporeal treatment site comprises an elongate flexible catheter body having an ultrasound transmission member (e.g., a wire) extending longitudinally therethrough and terminate in an enlarged or bulbous distal tip member. One example of an ultrasound delivering catheter incorporating this type of catheter-body-attached distal tip member is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/127,985, of which this application is a continuation-in-part.
In view of the therapeutic usefulness of ultrasound-delivering catheters, there exists a need in the art for further invention, development and refinement of the previously known ultrasound catheters, so as to improve the operative characteristics, reliability and/or economy of such catheters. Also, it is desirable to devise new catheter designs and/or methods of manufacturing such catheter whereby the expense of such ultrasound delivering catheters may be minimized.